At least 46 people were killed and scores injured after a powerful earthquake struck southern Indonesia yesterday.

Local reports said some of the victims had been killed in a landslide near the southern coast of Java, the country's main island, while others died when houses and other buildings collapsed.

The magnitude-7 earthquake shook buildings in the capital, Jakarta, sending thousands of people on to the streets.

It struck at a depth of about 30 miles (48km) off Java's south coast, the US Geological Survey said, and was the strongest to hit the region since a magnitude-7.5 quake rocked India's Andaman Islands on 10 August.

The government said it was sending medical teams to Tasikmalaya, a town in West Java about 70 miles from the epicentre. Local hospitals said scores of injured people were being admitted.

"We all ran out in panic. We didn't even put our sandals on," said Muharaham Ardan, who lectures at a university in the town. "The neighbours were shouting: 'Get out of the house! Get out of the house!'."

Edi Sapuan, a resident of nearby Margamukti village, said many houses had been flattened. "Only the wooden houses remain standing," said Edi, who fled his home moments before it collapsed. "Many villagers are injured, covered in blood."

At least 10 people died in the southern Cianjur district of West Java, and another in the coastal village of Pelabahan Ratu, where dozens of buildings were badly damaged, said Satrio Nurhadiwibowo, a spokesman for the national disaster management agency.

"A dozen houses were buried by a landslide triggered by the earthquake in Jeblong village."

The quake, which struck just before 3pm local time, was felt as far away as Surabaya, Indonesia's second biggest city, about 300 miles away.

At least 27 people were injured in Jakarta, where buildings shook and swayed, causing panic among office workers and residents of blocks of flats.

"Everything was shaking and my neighbour shouted 'Quake, quake!'," said Nur Syara, who lives on the 31st floor of a block of flats. "You could hear the walls creaking. I lay down on the floor. I was scared things would collapse."

The Pacific tsunami warning centre in Hawaii issued a warning soon after the quake struck, but withdrew it about 30 minutes later.

There were no reports of serious disruption at an oil refinery and power plant in the quake-affected area.

The last big earthquake to strike Indonesia, in July 2006, killed 730 people. A massive earthquake off its western coast on 26 December 2004 generated a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

The sprawling archipelago is prone to earthquakes because it sits on continental plates along the Pacific Ocean's "ring of fire".